“Hope (and fear) are phantom
– Tao Te Ching
Why does the Tao Te Ching state that “hope is a phantom?” As hope, like a phantom, is illusory. Faith, on the other hand, is anything but illusory.
Faith and hope are not the same.
Paradoxically, faith is effortless yet effective.
Hope is exhausting and ineffective.
Hope is (futile) mental exercise that asks an external source to somehow influence people, objects and events so as to manifest a specific preferred outcome (from the perspective of the ego). In contrast, faith is a knowing that we are always given precisely what we need (for our evolution).
Careful what you ask for
As you just might get it.
– Anonymous
Hope presumes to know what is best for us. Yet, in actuality, hope doesn’t know what is best for us (from the perspective of the soul). Rather, hope intends to manifest merely the (short-term) whims of the personality (i.e., egoic aspect of the personality).
Hope intends manifestation of personal will
Whereas faith is surrender of personal will to Divine will.
In contrast to hope, faith is a mechanism of the soul. The soul recognizes the interconnectedness of all things. The soul recognizes that we are given precisely what we need in each moment—to learn lessons which support our eventual evolution. Faith trusts that natural order will always present us with the appropriate lessons—carried by the props of experience (a/k/a people, objects and events).
The Universe abhors a vacuum
– Anonymous
The soul understands that we are always given precisely what we need … to learn. So, faith TRUSTS the process of life. Faith knows that if we are meant to learn a specific lesson, that we will energetically attract the precise people, objects and/or events that will trigger the lesson. So, faith is a letting go—letting go of ego’s preferences in lieu of lessons appropriate for our souls’ evolution. Thus, faith is effortless. Faith is surrender to natural order. In juxtaposition, hope merely intends to manifest ego’s desires. Hope ultimately is exhausting as hope is resistance to natural order. Hope is anything but letting go. Hope holds tightly to ego’s preferences and focuses finite energy on manifesting these whims.
Finally, the process of faith—trust of and surrender to—natural order, turbocharges attraction of that which is appropriate for our evolution. Hope typically attracts little more than ego’s preferences.
Andrew
